Native dev or cross dev? That is the question...

Hey guys,
What's your take on this?
Do you prefer cross compiling on a PC, with potentially, a remote debugger/profiler ?
Or a native assembler/compiler of some sort and a monitor for debugging?
I, personally, like native for small projects. But, if working on a complex program, I'd rather use a full on IDE with remote debugging/profiling.

Replies

Personally, I like cross-compiling. From the perspective of the features a modern IDE (and even text editor) provide. Using a mouse to quickly navigate between files, copy/paste text etc. Using Alt+Tab to flick between source code, API/Reference documents, and graphic editors etc. I am also quite an erratic developer, I'll fly between developing different parts of a program on a whim, so trying to develop with line numbers and the like make that harder

Then you also have some extra options with regards to compilers. I used cc65 for my last C64 project. Sure, it doesn't produce the most streamlined code, but as I was rusty with any C64 assembler, it seemed the quickest way to attempt my port.

We are working on an IDE for the MEGA65, that will use cc65 and friends at the back end, and will also know about the hardware debug interface (or similarly talking to an emulator). The IDE itself will mostly run as a native C65 program in an emulator, so will have a very 8-bit feel, while hopefully offering most of the functions that most people want and need.

I'll hopefully do a blog post or two on the editor, which I have been working on the past few weeks. It already supports simultaneous multiple files, with upto 5 displayed in windows at the same time, and is reasonably fast even at 3.5MHz.

Great!
I had seen your commits on the editor but refrained form talking about as you didn't yourself. As long as it got C code debugging with a remote control/emulator of some sort, I'll be fine with anything you do :)